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Civilian avengers of yesterday and today
One unique facet of the Civil War in Missouri was the internecine fratricidal warfare between civilians and vigilantes!
This was not confined to Missouri because it also occurred in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western Virginia, eastern Kentucky and northern Mississippi. However, as has been mentioned before, the Civil War in Missouri and eastern Kansas was more brutal and barbaric than in other areas.
The vigilantes were not normally associated with any organized military unit and usually remained in the immediate vicinity of their homes, towns or a local regional area. Many would and could drift in and out of guerrilla, redleg or bushwhacker bands, but they normally waged war against other civilians with whom they had a personal grudge or were involved in a blood feud between families.
Usually, attacks were sudden and fatal. However, occasionally, before attacking and killing a family or individuals; the vigilantes would nail a warning to a door stating what would happen to the family or individuals if they did not leave the area. This type of warfare complicated the ability of the occupying Union forces to maintain peace and law and order in many towns and communities in Missouri throughout the Civil War.
The following "Special Order" describes the "Union" response to a threat from some civilian avengers just west of St. Louis in 1862 and is located on Page 831 of Vol. 22 of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion.
Hdqrs. Northeastern Dist. of Missouri, Warrenton, Mo., Dec. 13, 1862
Special Orders No. 39.
The following notice, left upon the premises of Mr. John H. Holdsworth, a loyal citizen of Monroe County, Missouri, has been brought to the notice of the general commanding:
| Mr. John Holdsworth: | |
| Sir: You are hereby informed that the Monroe County Avengers have determined that you must quit this country before January 1, 1863, if you would save your property from the flames! | Your open approval of Lincoln's hell-born proclamation and voting for those that were in favor of it, have determined us to make you quit the country. If but one of us is left, it will be carried out. |
-The Avengers.
Such threats as this can only be executed by the connivance and with the consent of the disloyal of Monroe County. These disloyal persons are warned that if they bring about insurrection, violence and bloodshed in Monroe County, now quiet, that none of them will be spared. If they remain quietly attending to their legitimate business, they will be protected in their persons and property.
The time has passed when such acts as here threatened can be even palliated by disloyal sentiments and any repetition of them will be punished with the utmost rigor of a severe code.
| The following neighbors of John Holdsworth will be held in person and property responsible that no harm comes to him or his property: John Forsyth, David Wooldridge, John Vaughn, Gilmore Gonell Beauchamp, Hiram Powell, Jacob Cox, William Bridgeford and Charles Browning. | If, therefore, these men desire to live in the peaceful and quiet enjoyment of their property, let them see to it that the said John H. Holdsworth is permitted to do the same. |
| By order of Brigadier General Merrill: | |
| Geo. M. Houston, Major and Aide-de Camp |
It is not known if the Avengers threat of burning Holdsworth's property was ever carried out, but if it was, you can be assured that property of his identified neighbors was put to the torch by the Union forces.
Is this type of warfare familiar to us as a nation today?
It sure is, because our armed forces are waging a war against and among insurgent avengers who hate each other as much as Missourians hated each other between 1861 and 1865 and are fighting political blood feuds in Iraq and Afghanistan today.